debug_from_smalltalk.rdoc

Debugging MagLev from Smalltalk¶ ↑

This file has a couple of examples of debugging MagLev from the Smalltalk side. These are old examples, and may have diverged from reality…

Catching exceptions in Topaz¶ ↑

This example demonstrates a couple of things:

1. Invoking MagLev from the Topaz prompt

2. Using the new exception hook to catch an exception

Run MagLev from the Topaz prompt¶ ↑

This scenario shows how to debug a ruby program (RubyGems) from the Topaz prompt.

Start Topaz:¶ ↑

$ cd $MAGLEV_HOME
$ rake maglev:topaz
(in /Users/pmclain/projects/maglev/git)
topaz 1>

Set debug env in Topaz¶ ↑

Before invoking the ruby program, we want to setup some debug help. Create $MAGLEV_HOME/gem.inp and put the following in it:

run
|boring boringExceptions|

  RubyContext load  .

  " ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Set VM debug flags for the run.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------ "

  RubyParseTreeClient logSexp: false .   "Print sexp from parser"
  RubyGlobalScopN traceGlobals: 0 .
  RubyStaticScope traceLocals: 0 .
  RubyFile traceLoad: true .             "Print file names when they load"
  GsNMethod traceIR: 0 .

  " ------------------------------------------------------------------
    RubyGems throws a couple of exceptions during normal processing,
    mostly to discover that various libraries do not exist, or to force
    the loading of a library.  The following Smalltalk array holds the
    error messages from these boring exceptions, so we can filter them
    in the exception handler.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------ "

  boringExceptions := #(
    'no such file to load -- rubygems/defaults'
    'uninitialized constant InstallCommand'
    'no such file to load -- openssl'
    ) .

  " ------------------------------------------------------------------
    This installs an exception handler that will be invoked for every
    exception thrown.  It prints the message from all exceptions, and
    then checks to see if the exception is interesting.  If it is, then
    it pauses the VM and drops down into the Topaz prompt.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------ "

  Exception installDebugBlock: [:ex|
    GsFile gciLogServer: '==== "', ex asString, '" (', ex class name, ') ====' .
    boring := boringExceptions anySatisfy: [:x| ex asString includesString: x ] .
    boring ifFalse: [ nil pause ] .
  ] .

  " ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Setup the ARGV array for the script, and then run it.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------ "
  RubyContext default setARGV: #( 'install' 'rake' ) scriptName: 'maglev-gem' .
  RubyContext loadFileNamed: './bin/maglev-gem' .
%

This Smalltalk code sets up a number of debugging variables, and installs an exception handling hook that will intercept all exceptions. It then invokes ./bin/maglev-gem install rake, and will break back to the Topaz prompt when it hits an “interesting” exception.

Run it¶ ↑

To invoke the script:

topaz 1> input gem.inp

Topaz will echo the script to output, and then run it. Since we are tracing loads, we see output like:

-- RubyFile>>load  : loading /Users/pmclain/projects/maglev/git/bin/maglev-gem
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/rubygems_version.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/defaults.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/1.8/thread.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/1.8/rbconfig.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/exceptions.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/version.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/requirement.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/dependency.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/gem_path_searcher.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/source_index.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/user_interaction.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/specification.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/platform.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/builder.rb
==== "no such file to load -- rubygems/defaults/operating_system" (RubyLoadError) ====
==== "no such file to load -- rubygems/defaults/maglev" (RubyLoadError) ====
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/config_file.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/1.8/yaml.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/1.8/rbyaml.rb
...

There are also a couple of boring exceptions printed. After a bit, we get to the real exception:

-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/1.8/time.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/local_remote_options.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/validator.rb
-- RubyFile>>load  : loading $MAGLEV_HOME/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.8/rubygems/version_option.rb
==== "Undefined method `do_not_reverse_lookup=' for Socket  " (MessageNotUnderstood) ====
Execution has been suspended by a "pause" or "halt" message.
topaz 1>

In this case, the problem is obvious: we haven’t implemented Socket#do_not_reverse_lookup=.…

Using Squeak to Debug¶ ↑

Download and install seaside.gemstone.com/squeak/GemTools-MagLev-Pharo-1.0.zip Fire up GemTools, and login to the MagLev VM. From the GemStone transcript window, issue the following commands:

RubyDirectory _chdir: (RubyEnv _getenv:'MAGLEV_HOME') .
RubyContext load: #() .
RubyContext default runFileNamed: 'my_file.rb' withARGV: #() .

The debugging environment is not quite the same as a standard script (e.g., __FILE__ and $0 are not set correctly), but if you don’t depend on those, then this is a possible way to debug/explore your ruby program.